Monday, September 11, 2017

It’s Official: US Debt Finally Tops $20 Trillion, Jumps By $318 Billion In One Day

Following President Trump’s sign off last Friday on a short-term
debt-ceiling/government funding/hurricane aid deal (thanks to Democrats’
votes), the US Treasury was finally freed from the shackles of the debt
ceiling which it hit nearly one year ago and which meant that US
federal debt would be at roughly $19.808 trillion for months.

Well, no more: according to the latest Daily Treasury Statement as of Friday, total US debt surged by $317.6 billion from
its Thursday closing print of $19.845 trillion, following the
short-term debt suspension which kicked the can through December 8, to
finally rise above the “psychological barrier” of $20 trillion, or $20,162,176,797,904.13 to be precise.

As shown in the chart below, from March 16 until Thursday, Sept. 8,
the official federal debt subject to the legal limit was at
$19,808,747,000,000, i.e. the statutory debt ceiling. This is because
the previous suspension of the debt limit expired on March 15 and the
debt limit had been reset on that day at the level the debt reached at
the close of business that day. On that day, the Treasury started using
“extraordinary measures” to keep the debt subject to the limit about $25
million below the limit.

The Treasury was finally freed from this limit on Friday, and thus
the $317.6 billion surge in one day as the US Government replenished its
extraordinary measures, which should allow the Treasury to coast until
some time in March even after the next debt ceiling is hit on December
8.